


Too Little Too Late

by reiwata



Category: Fire Emblem: Kakusei | Fire Emblem: Awakening
Genre: Angst, Chrom!Inigo, Frederick!Cynthia, I don't even know if all of those characters will be in this, Libra!Owain, Lon'qu!Severa, M/M, Post-Fire Emblem Fates: Revelation, Vaike!Brady, its gonna have a happy end though i promise, just for reference uh, more to be added later im bad at this, vague fates spoilers maybe?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-19
Updated: 2016-04-19
Packaged: 2018-06-03 07:12:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,611
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6601669
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/reiwata/pseuds/reiwata
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Owain comes home, after five long years spent away from everyone he loves.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Too Little Too Late

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO BE SHORT AND CUTE THEN IT GOT ANGSTY THEN I REWROTE IT AND IT GOT MORE ANGSTY AND *SCREAMS*

Five long years were spent in Nohr. Five long years since Owain was pulled from his home without a chance to say farewell to those he loved, and now he was finally getting his chance to return. Five years away from his family, and worse, away from Brady--it truly felt like an eternity to him.

Upon being sent back to their own world, the three travellers were separated, Owain realized, noticing that Selena and Laslow--no, they were Severa and Inigo here--were nowhere in sight. He supposed this meant he would have to make the trek back to Ylisstol on his own. He would have preferred the companionship, but he was more than capable of handling the journey on his own.

Still in his skimpy dark mage outfit, he felt a little uncomfortable. At least one thing was back to normal, he thought as checked his left arm while walking, seeing his brand of the exalt back where it belonged. He wondered if anything else would be back to normal when he returned.

After all, it had been five years that he had been away. Had five years passed here too? Would anyone actually remember him after having been gone with no warning for five years? While he didn’t want to let such thoughts distract him, it caused a sinking feeling of guilt to settle in his gut. He always felt guilty for leaving his family, and more, Brady, and his friends too, behind like that, but now that he was actually going to have to face them again, the guilt and worry he had felt during those five years was even more intense.

Several times before, in his head, he had tried to script the perfect apology, but the more he had thought upon it, the more he had realized that no apology would be good enough, especially not one so obivously scripted. Even if his apology was from the heart, he knew that this was going to be one case in which his theatrics were definitely unacceptable, and even he knew that. Yet now, as he walked back to the place he once called home, he tried coming up with an appropriate apology once more. By the time he came to the same conclusion as before, he found himself in Ylisstol already.

The relief he felt upon seeing such familiar surroundings, he told himself, was proof that no matter how long he spent away, he was truly Ylissean at heart. Finding his way to the castle, he felt it was too easy to enter the castle grounds. Though, perhaps that was a good thing--it meant that Ylisse had remained peaceful in the time that they were away, and the people who he loved had hopefully remained safe, and out of battle while Owain couldn’t protect them.

Once in the castle, Owan was faced with a dilemma. Of all the people he wanted, he needed to see, who was he to approach first. His friends, his aunt and uncle, his cousin, his mother and father, who would be first the know of his return? He had been careful not to make his presence known just yet for that one reason--he felt it was important that someone special be the first. _When I think of it that way though, there’s only one person it could be,_ he mused. It could only be Brady. Who was more special to Owain, than the priest he wished to spend the rest of his life with? Yes, it had to be him, Owain decided, and set out looking for him. Though he felt guilty for not choosing his family first, he knew there was no other option in his mind.

“Excuse me sir.” Owain said to an unfamiliar man in the castle, careful to keep his telltale theatrics to a minimum. “Perchance, could you inform me of where I could find a priest who goes by the name of Brady?”

“Brady?” the man answered, “Doesn’t he usually stay in, uh, the west wing of the castle? One of the lesser used hallways I think, uh…” Though trailing off after giving Owain such little information, Owain was fine with that, deducing that Brady was still staying in the same room he had always stayed in before.

“Same as before then? How fortunate. I was worried after all these years I’d have trouble finding him.”

“An old friend then?” Upon hearing the man’s question, Owain nodded. “I didn’t think that guy even had friends!”

Owain was offput by that rude comment, but refused to let it show. “Though he may seem scary on the outside, Brady actually has a heart of gold! He’s by far, the greatest person I know.”

“Is that so?” the man smiled kindly at Owain. “Perhaps I could tell him you’re looking for him if I happen to see him?”

“No!” Owain answered quickly, too quickly, he realized afterwards. “I… It’s been a while since I’ve been to Ylisse, and I wanted my return to be a surprise.” It was close enough to the truth, right?

“Well then, sir, I wish you the best of luck then.” The man grinned at Owain, and Owain gladly smiled back.

“Thanks!” he answered, before the two finally parted ways.

Owain let himself get lost in thought as he navigated the familiar hallways of the castle he used to call home, and that he would soon call home once more. His mind raced, filled with thoughts both good and bad--excitement at seeing his beloved once more, anxiety about how everyone will react to his return, fear that they’ll be mad at him for disappearing the way he did. Their anger would be justified, and the fact that he could do nothing about that made it all the more terrifying.

The sound of a heavy footstep behind him drew Owain out of his thoughts though, and acting on instinct, he spun around immediately. His reflexes were still sharp in the short time since the war ended, but he didn’t see anyone behind him. “Who’s there?” He called out hesitantly. While it was possible he had just imagined the noise, he wasn’t going to believe that so easily. He waited moment, but the source of the sound did not show itself. Uncertain, Owain decided to continue forward, figuring whatever it had been was probably none of his business.

If Owain got lost (he did), having somewhat forgotten his way around the castle, he would never admit it, and in the end, he made it to the room he was certain was Brady’s well enough on his own, even if it did take him a while. However, the sight he was greeted to there was not a welcome one. A note was tacked to the door, and though Owain was initially hesitant to read it, thinking it was likely none of his business, when he did read it, he quickly realized it was meant for him.

> _You left me behind for five years with no warning of where you were going or when you’d be back and you think you can just come back and everything will be back to normal or something? We thought you were dead! You abandoned us. I don’t ever want to see you again, so you just leave me alone Owain_  

Owain’s heart sunk as he read the note, written in Brady’s familiar messy scrawl. He knew, he expected Brady to be upset, yet this still crushed him. _It’s not fair…_ he thought, _I never got a chance to tell anyone I was leaving… I didn’t want to…_ But he knew Brady’s anger was justified, and there was no way he would try to fight that, even if he wanted to. It wouldn’t be fair to Brady. But he had to at least try to apologize, to fix things. Hesitantly, he knocked upon the door. “Brady, I…”

“Can’t you read?” Brady’s shaking, angry voice called from the other side of the door. “Or did ya just ignore the note to piss me off even more?”

“Brady, I...” Owain started again, his own voice just as shaky as he held back tears. “I’m sorry! I’m so, so sorry Brady, I never wanted it to happen that way, if I’d had the chance, I would have told you, I wouldn’t have left you behind, I’m so sorry Brady, I--”

“Can it!” Brady sounded furious, more angry than Owain had ever heard him before. “I’m through with you.” There was a finality in Brady’s voice that told Owain that there was no use trying. No number of apologies or excuses would change the priest’s mind now. Just as Owain had suspected, it was too little, too late. He sighed, sitting down on the ground with his back to the wall, burying his face in his hands. He’d lost everything now. He almost wished he hadn’t come back, that he’d stayed in Nohr and continued to serve Leo. Because what was the point in being back home if Brady hated him? He sat there for a while, refusing to let himself show the emotions he was truly feeling, until he heard a distant voice, familiar, and feminine, calling his name desperately.

“Owain? Owain!”

Owain stood up, looking around for the source of the sounds.

“Owain!"

The voice sounded uncertain, probably not entirely believing he was actually there after he had been gone for so long. Owain started moving towards the voice. As he turned a corner, he saw her there, a bit taller than when he left, blue eyes watery as she laid eyes on her son for the first time in five years.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> find me on the tumbl leodinao3.tumblr.com


End file.
